The Shadow of Beauty

Ch 4- First Meetings

A couple years earlier...

The sky was peaceful, a veritable watercolor of pinks and oranges as the sun set. Not a breath of wind could be felt as the dusk shadows grew long. That all changed when a yellow spark popped out of seemingly nowhere. In an instant the spark grew and mutated as it branched off into a crackling ball of electric energy. The writhing electric fingers grew in size, creating a windy disturbance that whipped the trees violently beneath it. A shiny golden colored substance began raining down in thick globs as the violent disturbance suddenly opened up. A golden white light poured out of the opening as if heaven itself had opened to the mortal world. A form fell through the opening, plummeting to the unforgiving earth; an angel cast out. Then, as if it never happened, the portal closed and winked out of existence.

Twillow fell and crashed hard through the branches of the trees below until she managed to snag a branch and stop her descent. She winced, tears rolling down her face, partially from the scrapes she'd acquired but mostly for her banishment. With just one passionate moment of lovemaking and a vengeful command, she was cast out of her realm into the Lower Realm. No fae had ever been sent there to her knowledge and from all the stories she'd heard it was not a realm anyone from the Parliel Realm would want to visit; populated with non-magical beings like humans and monsters of all kinds.

She looked up but the sky was devoid of the portal. Only she and the golden, paint-like globs were testament to its brief existence. Twillow winced again and fluttered her wings to help pull herself up onto the thicker truck of the tree. Her wings were sore from the rough treatment and the fall but she managed to find a safe spot to curl up.

It was already growing dark in the Lower Realm and she didn't want to be caught on the ground right now. Who knew what kind of horrible things began to stir when darkness fell? Still sobbing to herself, Twillow found a large fork in the tree and settled down for the night. She had no idea if she'd survive the night...let alone the remainder of her life in this place.

...

Morning...

Twillow slept despite her fears and the uncomfortable 'bed' she had chosen. She was awakened by a distant but loud snapping and cracking of trees. Her eyelids flashed open but then blinked blearily with dull senses. The crashing and crackling grew louder...closer. Twillow couldn't tell where it was coming from or what was happening. Her eyes darted to the ground and all around her, searching for the source of the horrible noise.

Suddenly the trees shook and then it was still. The leaves rattled and the branches flopped with a second shake. Twillow rubbed her eyes and suddenly a third shake almost made her fall out of the tree. She grasped the trunk, now terrified and awake. Another tremor and the sharp sound of breaking branches grew menacingly louder. It sounded like every tree around her was falling down.

What was happening?

In mere moments a dark shadow blocked out the sun. Twillow's head whipped around and her eyes grew wide with fear when a tremendous torso passed by her tree.

Her heart almost stopped as her mind tried to deny what her eyes beheld, "Oh, my blessed wings...a giant!"

His skin was a medium gray color stretched over defined muscle as if he was a living, breathing granite statue. She couldn't see all of his face as it was obscured by the treetops, but what she could see was far from grotesque. Strong squared jaw peppered with black stubble and a thin mustache and beard. She couldn't see his eyes but that was probably a good thing; he couldn't see her either.

She'd never seen a giant before since there weren't any in the Parliel Realm and he was far and away the biggest being she'd ever laid eyes on. It almost seemed impossible that a living being could be so tremendous.